On every possible issue confronting the American people in this year of 2009 and beyond, the new president of the United States has made one thing clear: He intends to make his mark on all of them.

In his first address to a joint session of Congress on Feb. 24, Barack Obama demonstrated again the idealism and the belief in hoping for the best, then actually trying to make change happen that got him so easily elected.

Clooney, an actor, is a Darfur activist and that region of Sudan was the purpose of his meeting with President Obama. Darfur is one of several of Africa’s on-going horror stories. The region is in southwest Sudan and there’s been a civil war in progress since 2003.

This week the Bedford Museum and Genealogical Library is proud to honor Carol M. Swain Ph.D.

Carol was raised in Bedford County in a shanty without running water and electricity in only two rooms. She had 11 brothers and sisters and a father that was not always there. Her mother Dorothy Henderson, “Mama Dot” had infantile paralysis as a child which made one side of the body smaller than the other and she was crippled for life.

With very little to show for his sincere efforts at bipartisanship, President Barack Obama nonetheless signed his landmark economic stimulus bill into law, thanks to the votes of Democrats and just three common sense Republicans in the Senate.

When one speaks of Republicans and uses the phrase “common sense,” what is being said is a word most conservatives disdain: moderate. Those dipped deeply into the fires of right-wing orthodoxy have no compass for the center. Nor do they want one.

I had the opportunity to attend a conference on Charles Darwin last week held Feb. 15 through 17. It was scheduled to mark the 200th anniversary of his birth and the 150th anniversary of the publication of his Origin of the Species. Charlie’s birthday is on Feb. 12.

This conference, by the way was not a Darwin Day celebration. It was sponsored by Answers in Genesis, a creationist organization that believes Darwin got it wrong and can offer data to demonstrate what’s wrong with Darwin’s theory.

We don't envy the folks on the county's school board, Bedford City council or Bedford County's supervisors. Perhaps some of them are wondering why they volunteered for these jobs. Are they really glad they were elected or reelected?

The seats they are now sitting in are certainly hot seats. No matter what they do, they are going to make somebody mad.

Some type of a ban on smoking in Virginia’s restaurants now appears inevitable.

It’s been a cause championed over the past several years by advocates of those who don’t believe the business community can police itself on such matters. It’s a cause that is more show than substance, especially since the bill that appears headed for approval is weak and without much bite.

I am proud to announce that this week, the first piece of legislation I co-authored as a Congressman became law. The "American Opportunity Tax Credit" provides $2,500 a year for the cost of tuition and related expenses (including textbooks for the first time) to individuals making less than $80,000 per year. Up to $1,000 of this tuition tax credit will be refundable, which can be particularly important for displaced workers hoping to pay for advanced training at a community college or university.

Temperatures made it feel more like May than February, but legislators didn’t get to spend much time outdoors. This week, we had some of the longest days of the session, completing our work on all bills filed by delegates and approving a package of amendments to the 2008-2010 Biennial Budget.

A major project for the County is the rewriting of the Zoning Ordinance and the Subdivision Ordinance. This is being done to bring them into agreement with the recently adopted Comprehensive Plan. The objective is to combine the Zoning and Subdivision Ordinances into one simple, straightforward, and more readily understood document.

Childhood – When I say that I was born in Goode, VA, I mean that literally. I was born across the railroad tracks in my grandmother’s house in February, 1970. My mother, Verna Bryant, was an unwed high school senior. She moved away to Philadelphia to work at the post office when I was eight months old. I stayed under the watchful care and guidance of my grandmother, Susan Williams.

My first move when the Bedford Bulletin arrives is to open to the editorial page and read Rick Howell’s column. He does such a great job of demonstrating the ridiculous thought processes of today’s liberals. This week in the Feb. 4th issue he practically gushed defending the pork, oops sorry, “special interest” provisions in this “spend our budget into oblivion” bill.

Over the years Operation Blue Ridge Thunder has taken its share of criticism. In fact, during the last sheriff’s race, Bedford County Sheriff Mike Brown was often taken to task by claims from opponents that he brought criminals into the community through the effort, because of the nature of the program. Last week’s events in Bedford County should put a halt to such talk.

By now just about everyone knows about the digital TV transition. Three years ago Congress passed legislation setting a hard deadline for television stations to stop broadcasting their signal in analog format. This transition from analog to digital, known as the Digital TV (DTV) transition, was scheduled to take place on February 17, 2009. However, this last week Congress passed short-sighted legislation which delays the upcoming DTV transition for four months.